Marvin became my first flight student in 1963 when we were both orderlies in a hospital in New Hampshire. He went on to become an accomplished corporate pilot, a true professional, and at his passing he had many more flight hours that I have and an almost-stellar career.
Airplanes with retractable landing gear have a “gear warning horn” that blares if you reduce power to a certain point without putting the gear down. We are all familiar with it because we hear it in training or practice maneuvers, and sometimes as we set up for landing.
So back to that “almost stellar” thing. One day well into his career Marvin was returning to home base with the company airplane, similar to but not the one pictured. As usual he was concentrating on his landing when suddenly he heard the grating sound of his propellers and the belly of the aircraft on the runway. (I’ve never heard that but I’m $ure it’s not a plea$ant $ound.) He immediately recognized that he “forgot the gear,” as we say, but it was too late. We call that a belly-landing.
When recounting the humiliating story to me he said that on final approach he wondered what that sound was but he was concentrating on making a smooth landing and ignored the warning.
Is there anything in his story for God’s people today? Are we ignoring any warnings around us about the Day we live in? And the Day to come?
Ken Stoltzfus
Kidron, Ohio USA
April 30, 2024
See printable pdf with photo at www.10minas.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Whats-That-Sound-I-Hear.pdf